There he stands atop the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial, in the nations capital, at a podium, speaking to the world. The crowds faces full of hope. Ears opened wide and clear, for the Dr. is speaking today. He is speaking from the heart and telling the nation that he has a DREAM.
Dr. King had a dream and as most people think that it is geared towards blacks and whites, its not. Dr. King wanted equality between everybody. He wanted freedom from racism and prejudice throughout the nation.
He was very good in getting the emotional perspective of persuasion across to his audience. King was a very inspirational man; his words were so true and full of meaning. He spoke to everyone and got everybody involved. This is why people followed him and why I think this is the most persuasive piece we have read. He not only implies his wants but he carries along with him the wants and needs of every man or woman ever treated poorly because of the color of their skin or their beliefs. There is a certain unexplainable meaning and feeling when a man like King steps up in front of the world and says, I have a Dream.
I chose Kings speech because it has so much more meaning and history behind it than the others. He pulled me into his world and showed me the way God intended it to be. His constant uses of virtually every form of persuasive writings are some of the best that can be used to pull an audience in. It has a greater meaning to it than say, Ginsberg and/or Shakespeare, these are more or less poetic displays of writing and in Shakespeares case this is a fictional story. King has grown up in a society that has been raised to hate anything that isnt the same color as them.
King exclaimed it wonderfully when he said, I have a dream one that one day my children will not be judged be the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. These are such powerful words that really make a person think. They make you think about how youre conducting your life right now. Are you treating everybody with the same courtesy and respect, or are you singling out certain races because for some reason or another you have a negative view towards them? He makes you want to get up and do something about the world. His use of emotional persuasion is like a car, it drives you, and if you have a nice bold car people look twice and want to be in it with you. Theyll think you are someone special and want to hear what you have to say.
In Kings case his wonderful persuasion methods are that compared to a limo, when you drive by (especially in a bad neighborhood) everybody wants to run up to the car and look through the windows to see whos inside. When I read Kings speech I was like a curious child that wanted to go and find out what was behind this mans mind. Society puts labels on people and sometimes never gives the true person a chance. If all the people who have ever been judged and/or treated differently because of the color of their skin or their beliefs were like Ginsberg, then we would have a very corrupt and scary world. King didnt believe in hating the world, but instead changing it.
His various uses of persuasion are almost guaranteed to get every open-minded person into the fight for equality. As in Ginsbergs poem the repetition worked great in getting the listeners hooked. He uses the quotes I have a dream and let freedom ring over and over again. Repetition works in this essay because it kept throwing the main ideas out there that King was trying to get across. Its almost like brainwash where you keep putting something in someones head then eventually it will stick. Ginsberg uses the word America 26 times.
You would think that after hearing that many Americas you would be sick of it. But because of the content and emotion that he puts in the essay with the repetition it flow along and is powerful. Ginsberg was a very open individual who wanted to express his beliefs in his own way, he didnt follow somebody elses format and this was very effective for him. If King wasnt a man that had been through all the hardships then his words wouldnt have come across a powerful as they did. What King does in his speech to make sure that the listeners know that he is talking to a wide range of audiences is his change in diction. He goes from all the technical terminology to the use of the image of the government giving out a check that they cant cash.
Ginsberg uses poor grammar and it almost implies that America is stupid, and Shakespeare uses his own language that the people of his time can relate to. The structure and emotions throughout this piece are definitely the main persuasion methods that got me hooked. The reason that King is the best at this is because when he wrote this speech he knew exactly who was going to listen and also to whom he was talking to. He knew that the young minorities of the world had their ears stretched way out to hear the words of what they thought of as a savior.
Ginsberg wrote his words from a communist state of minds and out of anger and almost hatred towards his country. Kings wasnt in to hating the world but rather changing it, this is why the emotional persuasion works. He says that he has a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. Although Shakespeares portrail of a king getting his troops fired up to go to battle and uses emotional persuasion when doing it to.
Like when he is tempting them with the thought of the pride they will have when they are telling their grandchildren all about the war. How everybody will remember the time they fought on Saint Crispian day. As Shakespeares king was good at developing the atmosphere needed, MLK still brings with him the truth and reality of his words. I mean Shakespeare is fiction and Dr. King is definitely not! Just the meaning and usage of his words are so powerful and true you almost have to get sucked in. Kings words bring forth hope and a sense of guidance for the citizens of the US.
They also bring energy to the capital in saying that we will not wait symbolizing the time they had already waited and that his people would wait no longer. King’s speech was written from the heart and had much more meaning to me than the others, not that Ginsberg wasnt writing from the heart, but his words were full of anger where as Kings are full of love. When I was younger I was one of the only white kids in an all Latino neighborhood. I know what it feels like to be called racial slurs, and be singled out. I know that it takes a lot to stand up for yourself, its not easy, but it is very necessary for survival. All I wanted at that time was happiness and equality between my peers and it took a long time for me to gain that.
Changing people minds about things like racism isnt easy and you have to be persistent and keep fighting or youll never reach your ultimate goals: freedom, equality, and happiness. If I were ever to write a speech that would need to reach all audiences and every household in the nation I would definitely look into the writing methods of a great man like King. His use of feelings and experiences throughout are quite possibly the best way to hook an audience. If King had survived his assassination what would have come of this world? King was a very persistent man and I believe that our world would be a better place to live because of him.
I believe that if he was still with us that the level of hatred would be dramatically lower. He was man that could change a nation. If King were still alive today I believe that his dreams would have come true. His dream of freedom and equality still to this day is not completely fulfilled and probably never will be.
There will always be someone out there who thinks that his or her race is of a higher superiority than another.
